Recommend me an MP3 player

[weasel fierce]

So Im faced with taking the bus to work for a while, as me and my wife works different schedules for the time being, and Im rather tired of listening to the crazy people on the bus, so was figuring getting an MP3 player would be a good idea.

So what have you had good service from ?
What works with no fuss on Ubuntu ?
Whats cheap but good (I dont care about fancy features, just stick some songs on there, and be able to switch between them)

[flange]

I'm sure a lot of people will recommend iPods, and you'll have to find out from them how well they work (or don't work) with Ubuntu and its various media programs.

I personally don't have an MP3 player. If I was going to buy one, I'd look at players from iAudio or Samsung first, because both companies have ogg support with many (if not all) of their players. MP3 support can be something of a pain on Ubuntu, because of the legal issues surrounding it. Plus, ogg is open source and patent free, and I like that.

Well, maybe not Samsung. It looks like they don't sell their portable players in the US. Bummer. Guess I'd be going with iAudio then. The M3 has ogg playback (as well as MP3 and many others), and it looks like it can mount as a USB harddrive. With that you'd be able to store anything you want on it, in addition to music.

Hopefully that helps. If ogg isn't your cup of tea, I'm sure some other people will be able to provide you with plenty of advice. Take care!

[JimmyJazz]

my iPod works perfectly with UBUNTU. I would reccomend going that route yes they are trendy and all but for good reason.

[DaMasta]

iRiver makes good products.

[Rinzwind]

iRiver makes good products.

Yes but their last series are windows media player ONLY.\
I got an iRiver flash player and it's excellent. And it works perfectly with a manager someone made :)

[DaMasta]

Yes but their last series are windows media player ONLY.\
Ah, I didn't know that. That disappoints me.:(

[welsh_spud]

The MobiBlue DAH 1500i (http://reviews.cnet.com/MobiBlu_dah1500i/4660-6490_7-6290340.html) is about as cool as it gets IMO. It apears as a USB storage device, so it should be no problem on linux.

[weasel fierce]

Thanks a ton guys :)

[jyank]

I use a creative zen touch, 20gb and it runs like a dream.

A creative MP3 player + http://gnomad2.sourceforge.net/ = :)

Plus it's not terribly expensive, I got mine from newegg on sale for $150

[jeffjj]

I persoanlly have an iAudio G3 with a 1G flash drive. It shows up as a hard drive on my desktop and I just drag and drop my files. I love it! I rip all my new CD's to OGG now, but still have MP3 and WMA files that I listen to from before. They are sold at New Egg, Amazon, and Target. Probably my only problem is now I hate the way my car stereo sounds now as I listen to my iAudio all day :).

It also is supposed to get up to 50 hours of battery life...not sure if I quite get that out of 1 AA battery, but I bet I get 40!

[43moon]

I am currently using the Creative Zen Micro and Gnomad2 and I am very happy with that arrangement.

[poofyhairguy]

As a general rule, the players that brag that they "don't need Windows drivers installed" will work out of the box in Ubuntu- like a pen drive. Usually this is the cheaper players, as drivers cost more money to make.

I have a big iPod and a small cheap pen drive type mp3 player. Somedays I like the smaller player more because it is SOOOO easy to add songs in nautilus (compared to installing and setting up and getting used to the quirks of gtkpod for my iPod). Somedays I like the iPod more because Gtkpod will worked well for me that day (its almost as good as Ephpod) and because its nice to have the songs organized.

So basically pick what you need. The worst would be a iPod Shuffle (not worth setting it up for how big it is) or a large plug and play MP3 player (because nothing could be organized).

I hear the older iRivers give the best of both worlds (and Ogg support)....go figure!

[SFN]

I just recommended this in another thread a couple of minutes ago.
http://www.neurosaudio.com/store/prod_442.asp

[niobe_logos]

Samsung might not sell their players in the US, but Ebay certainly does. I picked up a YP-MT6 player for cheap, in an auction.

This particular model player plugs in via USB, and behaves like a pen drive. However, it will play OGG files as well the Microsoft formats. Just drag them onto the drive in Ubuntu, and you're all set. As a bonus, it also plays FM radio with up to 20 presets, records, and does direct music-to-MP3 conversion, so you don't have to rip CD's via Ubuntu if you don't have to. Other players in Samsung's YEPP series have similar features.

[matthew]

I just got an iAudio M5. Works perfectly with Ubuntu...20Gb, plays ogg, mp3, flac, and maybe others. It mounts as a USB storage device.

[RacoonBerry]

I've owned a Creative Zen Nomad 20Gb for 8 months now and love it.

The best thing about it is that the battery life is awesome. I use it every morning for 45 minutes while I work out, then take it to work and plug it into my computer's speakers and play tunes for 1-2 hours at work. I probably charge it every other week. I often take it on weeklong business trips and leave the charger behind with no worries.

Works fine with Gnomad2.

[dosed150]

my rio carbon i just got works with linux just connecyt it and its drag and drop

[Jussi Kukkonen]

I bought a iRiver N11 for my significant other, mostly because it has ogg support (our whole music library is ogg), but also because it looks good.

Some specs:
- 4Line OLED display
- 1G built-in flash memory
- Up to 13 hours of playback (not tested)
- Li-poly rechargeable battery
- MPEG 1/2/2.5 Layer 3, WMA, ASF,OGG
- Does USB Universal Mass Storage (looks like a normal usb disk to Ubuntu)

[LuxoDave]

I just got the iaudio X5L. It is great. I like that if plays ogg files.

[nemik]

i love my creative zen micro. i recommend that one.

[Lord Illidan]

i love my creative zen micro. i recommend that one.

Yeah, the zenMicro is cool, I own one myself, but it doesn't support ogg, damnit. Otherwise, it is excellent. And Gnomad2 works fine.

[nemik]

Yeah, the zenMicro is cool, I own one myself, but it doesn't support ogg, damnit. Otherwise, it is excellent. And Gnomad2 works fine.

yea that's true. but i don't use ogg anyway. almost all music online is in mp3 form and my sony ericsson k750i plays mp3's too.

[SFN]

I suppose this doesn't actually qualify for the conversation but I just requested one of these (http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/video/7b1c/) for my birthday.

On the computer. On the home stereo. On the TV. In the car. Tons of audio and video formats as well as images. As many GBs as I so desire.

[drizek]

the iriver flash players will have built in support in amarok in the next release.

[SamH]

Rave 128. It's a little old, but if newer Rave models are the same, it works fine with Ubuntu. Mounts as a pen drive.

Downside - it doesn't do ogg. :(

[Sirin]

If you like downloading music to your player, I wouldn't go for Vorbis, as there are no music stores for the format. Try the Creative Zen Vision:M. ;)

[purdy hate machine]

iRiver makes good products.

Yes but their last series are windows media player ONLY.

I mentioned this in a similar thread yesterday.

I recently brought an IRiver H10 (6gb) It’s a wonderful little player but it originally comes tied to Windows media player in order to transfer music. However by holding down the “o” button as the player boots up you can restore UMS mode allowing Linux to recognize the player as a removable storage device, then it’s just drag and drop your music onto the player.

IRIVER H10 (http://www.iriveramerica.com/prod/hd/h10_6gb.aspx)

[gosh]

I have an iPod Shuffle. Works perfect for me. I use it a lot when running.
Actually, I just came home from my daily lap and am listening to the Police - Roxanne!

I search my files with Places -> Search for Files and darg and drop them in gktpod. No hassle.:D

[hscottyh]

If you like downloading music to your player, I wouldn't go for Vorbis, as there are no music stores for the format. Try the Creative Zen Vision:M. ;)

Yes there is: http://allofmp3.com